Similarities
by Tsukino Aisuru - A
Summary: I am on the Kira Task Force. The one that will bring Kira to justice. I was at home on a day off. I had nothing to do, so I was going to call the Chief to ask if I could come in even though it was my day off, but the Chief called first, asking me to come in because of an important announcement. In short, I came in, and later... met L... We're quite... Similar. Strange, yes? OCxL


I was bored.

That much was obvious, however how to _deal_ with this boredom was another problem entirely.

I had tried to find good InuYasha, Bleach and/or Fairy Tail fanfictions, but I could find none that I hadn't already found. I had played World of Warcraft, however I got bored after I found out that I kept aggro perfectly, healed good enough where it was way too easy, decided dpsing was NOT my thing, got bored owning in battlegrounds and was not in the mood for questing. I had tried puzzles, but they were all too easy. I had tried making a WoW addon but couldn't think of one to make. I had tried watching anime but my mind kept wondering. I had tried just talking to my friends, but they were all busy. I had tried baking a strawberry shortcake, but didn't have the ingredients and didn't want to go out. I had tried watching T.V., but nothing good was on. I had tried drawing, but then got bored. I had tried reading a book, but that was boring, too.

In short: I was bored out of my mind.

Is it possible to die of boredom? I hoped not, because, if it was, I was close to death.

Isn't there ANYTHING to do?

There _has_ to be _something_!

Oh.

Duh.

Maybe I can go back to NPA. I mean, it _was_ my day off, but I was SO. BORED.

Smiling slightly, I picked up my phone, however, before I could do anything else, it rang. How ironic; it was the Chief.

"Hai?" I answered immediately.

"Ah, Ai-san, this may be a bit sudden, and I know this is your day off, so I apologize for bothering you, but-" He began.

"Chief, I'm bored. Just tell me." I pouted.

"Can you please come in? I have a very important announcement for everyone concerning the case."

"Of course. I'm on my way."

"Thank you." He said quietly, and we hung up.

* * *

~_30 minutes later_~

* * *

"We now know that Kira doesn't just target criminals. He'll kill _anyone_ who opposes him. It's quite possible that we may _all_ be killed by Kira. Think of your _own_ lives, your families, and all the others you'd be leaving behind. If anyone wants to leave this investigation, _now_ is the time. You _won't_ be demoted if you choose not to stay. You have my word. But if you're not _absolutely sure_, then we don't need you. You _have_ to be willing to fight against him, _even_ if that means making the ultimate sacrifice. That is all." He said, then closed his eyes.

I sighed as slowly, the men started leaving. After awhile, there were only six men left, and one woman - me. Well, seven if you count Watari, the man in the trench coat and hat that was a table away from me.

"Six people, huh?" He sighed. "Well, _seven_, including myself. Still, I'm grateful to see that there is as many as six as you willing to risk your _lives_ to face _evil_."

At that moment, the robotic voice of L was heard. "The fact that you have decided to stay means that you have a strong sense of _justice_. I _trust_ _all_ of you."

"Haah?" Aizawa huh'd, gaping at the screen. "Ah.. H-hold on a second... L's just said that he's decided to _trust_ us, now. But, honestly, what _reason_ do _we_ have to trust _him_?"

"Listen, L. _All_ of us have decided to put our lives at risk to put Kira to justice, so I hope you understand what this _means_. We're _really_ sticking our necks out here." Hideki Ide added.

"But _you_ never have to show _your_ face, do you? _You_ just _give the orders_. I don't see how you can expect us to work alongside you in those conditions!" Aizawa declared. I sweat-dropped.

"I personally see where you're coming from, however I'm fine with it. Don't answer me, I don't care what you have to say." I said blankly.

It was silent for a few moments, before the chief spoke (and heeding my words, too! They all glanced at me, but ignored me! Yay!). "L, if all of us are going to work together on this investigation, then if you _truly_ meant what you said about trusting the seven of us, could you come here so we can _all_ meet in person?"

It was silent for a few moments again. "The thought had already crossed my mind. After all, I _did_ say that I trusted _all_ of you." He said. Suddenly, Watari reached forward and turned around the laptop. On the screen displayed some words in Japanese.

"Huh?" A few people muttered, shocked. They leaned forward slightly so as to read it. I just stared in shock. Suddenly, the blinking cursor thingy went to the next line and words began appearing.

* * *

~_a little while later_~

* * *

"_Why_ is he seeking our help _now_? There's only seven of us! He solved _all_ these difficult cases by _himself_ in the past, so _what makes this one so different_? The way L's been conducting things so far, odds are he's going to send a stand in or proxy or something to meet us instead of coming _himself_! It's not like _we'd_ ever know!" Ide was complaining.

"A _proxy_, huh?" Aizawa said, his hand going up to rub his chin in thought. I remained silent. "Well, it _is_ possible."

"I _believe_ L. I believe we can _trust_ him." Matsuda spoke up. "And, besides, I don't really think we can solve this case _without_ his help."

"I agree." Mogi said.

"From the beginning, he's been _very_ upfront about the fact that he would need the help of the _police_ on this case. Perhaps, we should think of it like.." He paused. "He's been waiting for this to happen all along!" My lips twitched. Someone else caught on, too.

"_Why_ would he _do_ something like that?" Matsuda asked, confused.

"There were a _number_ of people on the task force who distrusted L before this investigation, and once we got started, we had detectives resigning _left_ and _right_." The chief stated.

"Following that, classified information was leaked, so I, for one, am not surprised he didn't trust us." I said quietly. Everyone then looked at me.

"So in other words, he was waiting for the _task force_ to _only those investigators_ he could _trust_." Matsuda said. "And to do that, he needed to weed out _anyone_ who wasn't _totally_ committed!"

"Hmm..." The chief muttered. Ide growled.

"If we're working with _that guy_, I'm _leaving_ the task force!" He snapped, turned and began walking away. I was not surprised. "You don't have to worry. I won't try to follow you. I'm not interested in finding _L_." Everyone stared.

"Well _I_ think that we can trust L, so _I'd_ be willing to cooperate with him on this investigation." Ukita said.

"Count me in." Aizawa said.

"I will, of course, join in. I believe in justice." I said very quietly.

The chief nodded.

"I'm staying in a suite at the Teito hotel, but I'll be switching every few days from this point on. I want you to think of these hotel rooms as the de facto headquarters in this investigation. If this arrangement is _acceptable_ to all of you, we'll split into two groups and stagger your arrival so you arrive 30 minutes apart. Please arrange it so you're all here... at midnight." L had said.

* * *

~_around midnight_~

* * *

Slowly, the chief knocked on the door twice.

"It's unlocked. Please... let yourselves in." A male voice said.

The chief hmm'd and put his hand on the handle, then, after a second, turned the handle and opened the door...

... To reveal a man about 5'10'', was wearing a long sleeved shirt, jeans, no shoes or socks, and black, disheveled hair. His eyes wide grey, and his stature was leanish. He was kinda rubbing his leg with his foot. "I am L." He said blankly. There were gasps of astonishment (none coming from me, by the way).

"This is him?" Someone muttered. Another said, "He's different than I _thought_ he'd be."

L began scratching his head, looking away and downish.

The Chief hummed and took out his badge. "I'm Yagami Souchiro, of the NPA."

"I'm Matsuda."

"I'm Aizawa."

"Mogi."

"Ukita."

They had all taken out their badges. -_-

"I'm Ai, and I don't believe you need any form of identification. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't of the NPA." I said blankly. The others from the team sent me confused glances, but I ignored them.

L then stopped scratching his head. "I'm _very_ sorry we're late, currently the seven of us are-" He began, only to be interrupted by L...

... Who had risen his arm, his hand in the shape of a gun, pointed it right at the Chief, and said "Bang!" A few of the guys muttered and made other sounds of shock.

"What the hell was _that_?" Aizawa grumbled.

"Hmm." L muttered, sounding disdained, yet amused. "If I were Kira, you'd be _dead_, mister Yagami Souchiro, chief of the NPA." He said, slightly smiling. "Ai is the only one who didn't show her badge or tell me her full name, therefore she'd be the only one _alive_." They all gasped again. I blinked. Why be he calling me out? T-T He turned to the right, now pretty much deadpanning. "Kira needs a _face_ and a _name_ to commit murder. Buut," He drawled out the 'but'. "I'm sure you've already figured that much out, haven't you?" He moved slightly back. "Please do not give out your names so _carelessly_. Instead," He turned his back to us and started walking away. "Let's _value_ our lives."

"I knew that he needed a _face_ to kill someone, but I don't remember any evidence that showed that he needed a _name_, too." Matsuda said, looking at the chief.

"There's no way to verify if this is _related_, but criminals whose names were never released publicly, or whose names were spelled incorrectly in the media have not been targeted." The chief told him. "We briefly went over it in one of our meetings."

We turned back as L began to speak again. "That's enough _small talk_ for now, come this way."

"Oh, uh, right." Matsuda said blankly.

"Please turn off all your cellphones, handhelds and other communication devices and leave them on the table right there." I immediately pulled out my three cell phones and began turning them off, ignoring the risen eyebrow from Matsuda and the chief, and the glance from L.

"What, do you think we're gonna be using our _cell phones_ during this meeting to leak information?" Aizawa snapped.

"It's alright, just do as he says." The chief said immediately. I promptly put the cell phones on the table. Everyone else put their cell phones on the table as well.

"I realize he's been cautious from the very beginning, but I still can't tell if he trusts us or not." Matsuda said. I rolled my eyes, having a feeling of why L really wanted the cell phones off and on the table.

"No, I just find them distracting. I _can't __stand_ it when people's cell phones are ringing when I'm trying to talk." L said from the other room as we followed him.I grinned. Not only was I right, but I agreed. "Let me start by saying nobody takes notes of _anything_ that's said in these meetings." I gawked at how he was sitting on the chair. _No way_... "That means when we _leave_ headquarters, any information we _need_ is committed to _memory_. Please, make yourselves comfortable."

As we moved towards the seats, I sighed. "Okay, this is just weird. The world's greatest detective and I _SIT EXACTLY ALIKE_." I growled, severely confused. Everyone then stared at me.

"That's right, you _do_!" Matsuda exclaimed. "I've been meaning to ask you this, but why _do_ you sit like that?"

"It's not because I _want_ to!" I scoffed. "If I _don't_, my deductive reasoning skills drop by roughly 40%!"

"Precisely." L agreed. They stared.

* * *

~_a few minutes later_~

* * *

I had managed to, due to my tininess, fit between Matsuda and the Chief on the couch. Yes, I was sitting normally... for me and L, normally, that is. L was pouring himself a cup of... I think tea, it smelled like tea. He took a sip, then gave it an odd look and put it down, dropping 8 sugar cubes in the cup. Yes, I counted.

"Excuse me, L?" Matsuda began as he dropped the last two cubes in.

"Mmmh, from now on, I'm going to have to ask that you _stop calling me L_. It's _Ryuzaki_ now, just to be safe." He picked up his spoon as I face-palmed. Paranoid, much...? I couldn't really blame him, though. He _is_ the world's best detective, after all. Who knows what he's been through... I guess.

"Oh, uh, right... Ryuzaki? If we know that he needs a name _and_ a face to kill, couldn't we cut down on the number of victims by keeping criminals' names from the news?"

"If we do that, we'd only be putting the general public at risk." L- er, Ryuzaki? - said.

"The _general public_?" Ukita asked, confused.

"Why?" Aizawa asked. Ryuzaki stopped stirring his tea and looked up.

"Kira is childish and he _hates_ losing." I saw quietly. Everyone immediately looked at me.

"But how do youu...?" Matsuda asked.

"Just what do you _mean_?" The chief asked.

"Weell... I'm _also_ childish and I hate to lose." I pouted. "_That's_ how I know."

L stared at me and picked his cup up, taking a loud drink of it. "As am I."

"Ryuzaki... would you mind being a little more... _specific_?" The chief asked.

"Well... early on in the investigation, I tried to provoke Kira with that broadcast. Up until then, we thought that Kira would only go after criminals, but as we aall witnessed," Wait, what was up with him and rolling his a's? -_-' "He didn't _hesitate_ to kill my stand-in. _Also_, as soon as I said we knew he was in the Kantou, inn-" And now the n's too. -_-' "-Defiance, he made sure that his _next_ victims came from _within_ Japan, as if to say, 'Andwhat are you going to do about it?" (**A.N. I put those two words together because he said those two were spoken very quickly in the show. If there are double letters it means he drags out that sound, sorry if there's any confusion or assumed typos when they're not typos. ^_^'**) He took another sip and put down his cup. "He's met _each_ of my challenges head-on and he's _never_ missed an opportunity to return the favor." He leaned forward slightly. "Now, what do you think would happen if we tried to uuse media restrictions to hide criminals from someone like _that_?"

"I.. guess..." Matsuda muttered. L groaned quietly.

" 'If you choose to withhold the names of your _worst_ criminals, I'll kill _petty_ criminals or the _innocent_. I'm holding the whole world _hostage_, so who's it gonna be? I'm not the evil one here, but all those who oppose me by hiding _criminals_, you are _truuly_ evil!' " I said huskily. Everyone immediately looked at me. "Is what would happen. I believe that's _exactly_ how Kira thinks." I said, then looked around. "What? I demanded. "Ryuzaki asked what we thought would happen, and I told. No need to stare."

"That is exactly what I was thinking." Ryuzaki muttered. I sweat-dropped.

"Now that's creepy." I mumbled.

"In any case, let's look at another way we can use the media to draw him out." He continued.

"But how?" Aizawa asked.

Ryuzaki rose his head towards the ceiling and put his fingers on his lips. "How about this? Death of FBI agents _infuriates_ the U.S. Latest killings angers the international policing community. Nations agree to send fifteen _hundred_ investigators to Japan." He faced his head forward again. "For _Kira_, this will be waay beyond what he faced with the FBI. He'll see everyone as a potential threat. Psychologically, he'll start to feel cornered, and that will cause him to take some kind of drastic action."

"Th-that's _interesting_." Ukita said.

"So _he'll_ think there are fifteen _hundred_, when _really_, there are only eight of us!" He was now counting L, er... Ryuzaki? -_-' "And since none of these investigators _exist_, Kira won't be able to _kill_ them!"

"It just might work!" Ukita said, smiling.

"But Kira also might not fall for it." I sighed. "Has anyone thought yes, 'Hey, Kira seems pretty smart!' yet? Cause I have. It still might work, but there is always the chance he'll realize we're only trying to scare him into making a rash move." I sighed.

"But still, it might work!" Ukita replied.

"I never said that there was a 0% chance." I grumbled. "I only stated the painfully obvious chance that it _might_ not."

"_Well_, before we start _celebrate_, I'll tell you the _rest_ of my thoughts on the Kira case." Ryuzaki said bitterly. All the men nodded. I just stared. "Kira works _alone_." His eyes then narrowed as he looked to his right and down, his right thumb between his lips. "He had _access_ to _all_ of our classified information." He looked up when Aizawa spoke.

"What evidence do you have that he's working _alone_?"

"Hold on, Aizawa. Let's listen to his entire theory before asking questions." The chief replied.

"We know he needs a _name_ and a _face_ to kill." L continued. "But to _some_ extent, we know he can control the victim's _time_ of death and their actions _before_ _dying_. We already know that much. Please keep that in mind-" He took out a black marker and uncapped it. "-and listen _carefully_ to what I have to say next." He leaned forward and began drawing on the table. "On December 14th, 12 FBI investigators entered Japan." He wrote some more before speaking again. "Here we are on December 19th. Using prison _inmates_, Kira conducts _experiments_, manipulating his victim's _actions_ before they _die_. In _other words_, during this window of only _five days_, Kira became _aware_ of the FBI's presence, and _obviously _felt _threatened_... Because he didn't know any of their names or faces, he was at a disadvantage. He needed to know how much _control_ he had over his victims before he could _use_ it against the 12 agents, and, as we all know, on December 27th..."

* * *

~_a few minutes later_~

* * *

"During this period, to the best of our _knowledge_, at least 23 individuals died of heart attacks... But _these_ victims were _different_ from Kira's _previous_ targets. They were _all_ alleged criminals, ex-convicts, or suspects in on-going investigations, so, legally speaking, they were _innocent_." Ryuzaki stated. I frowned, suspecting the reason why.

"That's _true_..." The Chief muttered.

"_What_ this indicates... Is that _Kira_ had to _manipulate_ these lesser criminals in order to _kill_ those FBI agents. He _killed_ that many people so we'd be unable to tell the _decoys_ from those who were actually _used_. In _truth_, he probably only actually needed a _few_." Aaand there you go. That's what I thought. "He waited _eight days_ so that the FBI could investigate other suspects, which meant there'd be no _timeline_ linking to their deaths! I suspect Kira _had_ to be one of the people being _investigated_ by the FBI between the _14th_ and the _19th_ of _December_. In fact, I have no _doubt_."

"Ahh..." A few people muttered. I agreed with what he said so far, completely. He then leaned forward with a stack of papers.

"These are filed _provided_ by the FBI, and they contain additional _information_ you might find useful." He set them down and the guys picked up some papers. I left it alone, uninterested at the moment. "For obvious reasons, you're not permitted to take these out of this _room_, but..."

"_Amazing_!" Matsuda exclaimed, pretty much cutting L off. "There might only be _six_ of us, but with this much information, we should be a _lot_ of ground!"

"We'll split into two teams. One team traces the FBI agents, the other looks at the heart attack victims." Aizawa said.

"There weren't _that_ many people that had _access_ to information from headquarters, and among _those_, the FBI only investigates a _small_ group in the first _five days_." Matsuda said.

Aizawa nodded. "Yeaah, yeaaah..." He agreed. I looked at Ryuzaki, who was deadpanning and looked pretty annoyed.

"_Soo_." He said loudly. "Does anyone have any _questions_?" Everyone but me "hm?'d and 'huh?'d, looking at him.

"Actually, Ryuzaki." The Chief said. "I _do_ have _one_ question for you... and it pertains to what you said to us earlier about you hate to lose... Does the fact that you've shown us your face mean that you've lost? By just _being_ here, are you admitting defeat to Kira?"

"That's right." He said quietly. "By showing myself to you now, and by sacrificing the lives of 12 FBI agents, I _have_ lost the battle..." He said, then growled, "But I'm _NOT_ gonna lose the _war_." The guys gaped as I just looked silently. "This is the first time I've _ever_ put my life on the line. I want to _show_ Kira that we're _all_ willing to risk our _lives_ if that's what it _takes_." He then took in a breath, smiled... and I think my heart stopped. "And that justice will prevail, no matter what!"

I think I just fell in love.

GOD DAMMIT.

"Hey, yeah, that's _right_!" Mogi agreed.

"I like the sound of that!" Matsuda said, also smiling.

"_We_ can _do this_!" Ukita exclaimed.

"All right then, let's do this, Ryuzaki!" Aizawa also agreed.

"Justice always wins." I said quietly.

"Before we go any further, I have to _absolutely sure_ that none of you are Kira, so I'll need to speak with each of you individually before you leave today." L said, ruining the guys' newfound happy mood for a moment.

"What's the _deal_, he _still_ doesn't trust us?" Aizawa snorted.

"No, I think it's a fair request." The chief replied. They looked at him. I already knew L was going to say that, and understood and agreed with him on his reasoning as to why we wanted to speak with us individually to confirm our innocence, so I said nothing. "_Try_ to see it from _his_ perspective. Kira's been getting information from our headquarters from the very beginning, so there's a _good_ chance he's one of us." As he spoke, L/Ryuzaki stood up and walked over to the windows, hunched over, knees bent, and hands in pockets.

"Chief's right. Working this case has given us a chance to see him in _person_." Matsuda agreed.

"He's risking his _life_ to be here." Aizawa said, looking slightly concerned.

"Which is why we shall all comply." I said quietly.

* * *

~_a while later_~

* * *

"I apologize for _questioning_ all of you like that, but I'm afraid I had no other choice. I've determined that Kira is not among us." L stated. There were some sighs of relief (none from me, however. I have remained silent again). Everyone was seated again and L sat with his head in his left hand while stirring his tea with his right.

"Ryuzaki, how can you be _certain_ that we're all innocent?" The Chief asked. L slightly turned his head to look at him.

"Well, to be _honest_, from the beginning, I set a number of _traps_ that would _reveal_ if any of you was _Kira_, but after speaking with you one-on-one, I don't feel _the need_." He said. His cell phone then started ringing. "Excuuse me." He said blankly, taking out his cell phone. I immediately hid my smile with my knees. "Understood. I'm just about finished here, anyway. You got the key, so let yourself in." He then hung up. "Watari's on his way." He said to us. The guys gasped, while I made no reaction.

* * *

~_a few minutes later_~

* * *

An old man now stood before us. "Gentleman and lady, it is an _honor_ to meet all of you." He said, taking off his hat. The task force men looked bewildered.

"_This_ person is Watari?" Someone muttered.

"Um, what about your _usual_ outfit?" Matsuda asked, confused. I barely kept myself from rolling my eyes.

"If I'd dressed like that, I'd be announcing to the world that I'm Watari." He replied. "That's all it takes to give away the location of our headquarters and Ryuzaki."

"Oh, I see." Matsuda said.

"Ordinarily, I would _never_ show my face to _any_ of you. The fact that I'm _here_ is _proof_ that you've won Ryuzaki's _trust_."

"Now that you mention it, I _do_ feel _honored_." Matsuda said, scratching the back of his head and laughing uncomfortably. I deadpanned at him.

"Well then, I brought those items you've requested. It's all here." Watari said, bending down by L with a silver suitcase.

"Could you please pass them out to everyone?" L requested.

"Yes." Watari replied. He opened the suitcase. "Gentleman and lady, these are your _new_ police IDs." He stated. I blinked in shock.

"Buut, what for?" Aizawa asked.

Watari said nothing, just handed them out.

"Our names and ranks are _false_..." The chief muttered.

"Why did you give us fake IDs?" Matsuda asked.

"As you know, Kira requires a _name_ and a _face_ to kill." L stated, sipping his tea. "Well, you will _confront_ him with that premise _in mind_, and I think it should be _obvious why_." It _is_ obvious... I can't believe these idiots don't get it... -_-'

"Yes, well, of all people, the _police_ shouldn't use fake IDs!" Ukita exclaimed.

"Enough. What choice do we _really __have_, given the capabilities of our enemy?" The chief asked. "As long as you're working on this case, I think we're going to need all the protection one can _get_. It would be _foolish_ not to use them!"

"Yeah, you've got a good point." Matsuda agreed.

"Uh-huh." Aizawa agreed.

"Remember, any time you're in a situation that you have to give out your name to a _stranger_, make sure to use the name from your _fake_ ID, understood?" L said, picking up his tea. A few people 'mhm'd and 'right!'d. "Any be careful not to take them out while in the presence of other police officers. I'm sure I don't need to _tell_ you, that could cause _problems_ for us." He put down his tea. They 'mhm'd and 'I understand'd again.

"Very well, then." Watari said, opening another silver briefcase. "I'd like to request that you wear these at all times."

"Uhh... Belts?" Matsuda asked, obviously confused. We stood up.

"Each one has a transmitter hidden in the buckle." He explained. "This will allow Ryuzaki to monitor your whereabouts, and when you press the buckle twice, like this-" He pressed it twice, and then his cell phone rang. "My cell phone will _ring_, displaying your name." He took it out and snapped it open, then pressed a button which made it stop ringing. "And I'll call you back immediately, but you _won't_ see _my_ number displayed. In the morning, all of you will go to the police station as usual, then, later on in the day, we'll use _this_ method to confirm the identity of Ryuzaki's hotel and his room number. Please use this for emergencies as well." He passed out the belts.

"No way, this is _totally cool_! I feel like some kind of secret agent going after Kira!" Matsuda exclaimed.

"_Quiet_, Matsuda!" The Chief scolded. "This is not the time to be fooling around. Knock it off!"

Matsuda slumped. "Yes, sir." He said weakly. Poor boy! T-T Everyone's always so mean to him!

"Poor Matsy, everyone's always so mean to you!" I pouted quietly. The chief rolled his eyes at me and gave me a slight glare.

We all sat back down.

"Ohh, and come to think of it, who's at the police station right _now_?" L asked.

"Actually, no one's there at the moment." The chief answered.

"That's _not_ good _news_." L muttered. "We need someone there _at all times_, work in _shifts_, if you have to!"

"I understand. Aizawa, I'll put you in charge of that today." The chief nodded.

"Yes, sir." Aizawa said, standing. "I'm on my way, won't take me long." He said with a smile, and left.

* * *

**Tsukino Aisuru - A: I... This... This is... the LONGEST... chapter... I have EVER... written... o_o**

**HOW DID IT TAKE SO LITTLE TIME? O_O'**

**Well... I think I'll update soon, anyway... =3**

**This was mostly during episodes 5-7, so the next chapter will start at about episode 8. =3 just letting you know...**


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